Passenger traffic at McCarran maintains moderate climb

Passenger volume at McCarran International Airport continued its moderate climb, domestically and internationally, in March (Duane Prokop/Las Vegas Review-Journal File)

Passenger volume at McCarran International Airport continued its moderate climb, domestically and internationally, in March with 3.9 million customers passing through the gates of the Las Vegas airport.

The Clark County Aviation Department reported a 1.8 percent increase in passengers for the month, keeping the airport in a comfortable upward trajectory for the quarter.

In the first three months of 2015, McCarran accommodated 10.3 million passengers, a 1.7 percent increase over the first quarter of 2014.

An increase in the number of flights with larger gauge aircraft has translated into higher numbers for market leader Southwest Airlines and No. 4 American. Southwest reported 1.5 million passengers for the month, a 5.4 percent increase over 2014, and 4.1 million for the quarter, up 4.4 percent compared with last year.

American showed 248,386 passengers for the month, up 4.9 percent, and 700,915 for the quarter, up 5.9 percent compared with last year.

The domestic passenger count for the month was 3.5 million, 2 percent ahead of last year, while international numbers were up 5.6 percent to 288,060. For the month, domestic counts are up 1.7 percent to 9.4 million while international is up 5.7 percent to 783,376.

On the international side, the Canadian and Mexican carriers continued to be strong with several double-digit percentage increases over 2014. Air Canada and its Rouge subsidiary was up 28 percent to 68,122 passengers, Interjet was up 46.3 percent to 4,967 passengers, Mexican discounter Volaris was up 16.5 percent to 19,534 and Aeromexico had a modest 9.3 percent gain to 22,884.

Canadian discount airline Westjet defied the trend, off 5.6 percent to 19,534 for the month.

Another big gainer for the month was Korean Air, which saw its passenger counts climb 13.6 percent to 6,188.

Panama-based Copa Airlines, one of McCarran’s major growth stories in 2014, had an 8 percent decline in traffic to 12,292 passengers in March and is off 6.9 percent for the quarter to 34,644.

European carriers British Airways, Condor Flugdienst and Virgin Atlantic had moderate percentage decreases for the month. The region is expected to get a boost later this year with this week’s news that Norwegian discounter Norwegian Air Shuttle will start service to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden, in the fall.

Westside terminals and helicopter traffic continue to wane. For March, westside traffic was off 20.6 percent to 62,964 passengers and for the quarter, it was down 15.4 percent to 172,647 passengers.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.